The Chhattisgarh

Tag: Manorama Khedkar

  • IAS Probationer Puja’s Mother Manorama Khedkar Sent to Judicial Custody In Land Dispute Case |

    A Pune court remanded Manorama Khedkar, mother of the probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, to 14 days of judicial custody in connection with a criminal case related to a land dispute on Monday. Additionally, her bail application was denied on the grounds that the charge of attempted murder has been applied, which is only within the jurisdiction of a sessions court, according to the prosecution. Last year, Manorama Khedkar was arrested for purportedly threatening individuals with a gun during a land dispute in Pune district.

    Manorama Khedkar appeared before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in the Paud region following the conclusion of her police custody. The prosecution did not request an extension of her police remand, leading JMFC Sudhir Barde to order a 14-day judicial custody, as stated by Public Prosecutor Amar Nanaware.

    Subsequently, Manorama Khedkar’s defense counsel filed for regular bail. Nevertheless, the JMFC noted that the offense under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder), cited in her case, is exclusively triable by a sessions court and thus declined to grant bail.

    Public Prosecutor Nanaware reported that the defense’s bail plea was based on a Supreme Court decision allowing magistrate courts to grant bail in cases typically tried by sessions courts. He responded by citing case law that emphasizes the gravity of IPC section 307 offenses, which precludes JMFC courts from granting bail, leaving such authority solely to sessions courts.

    Manorama Khedkar, who had evaded capture for several days, was eventually detained at a lodge in Hirkaniwadi village near Mahad, Raigad district, on July 18.

    The search for Manorama and her spouse, Dilip Khedkar—a retired official of the Maharashtra government—was initiated by the police following the emergence of a video that depicted her allegedly using a firearm to threaten individuals over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil in 2023.

    The Paud police in Pune rural had booked the Khedkar couple and five others under IPC sections 307, 144 (unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon), 147 (rioting) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and also invoked the Arms Act against them.

    On Saturday, the police had informed the JMFC court that they had recovered the pistol and the car used in the crime.

    Puja Khedkar is under scrutiny for her claims regarding disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidature and conduct during her posting at the Pune collector’s office.

  • IAS Puja Khedkar’s Mother Seen Arguing With Pune Metro Workers In New Viral Video |

    A video purportedly showing controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s mother arguing with Metro rail construction workers in Pune has surfaced, days after another clip of her wielding a gun and threatening a group of men went viral.In the video, Khedkar’s mother Manorama is seen arguing with the Metro rail construction workers where some police personnel are also present. But the exact date of the clip, which lasts 27 seconds, is not known. After the previous video of Manorama brandishing a gun went viral, the Pune Rural police last week said a probe would be conducted to ascertain facts, including whether she possessed a licence for the firearm.

    The incident in the video was about a land parcel bought by Puja’s father Dilip Khedkar, a retired Maharashtra government officer, in Dhadwali village in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil, an official earlier said. Locals had claimed the Khedkars had encroached on the land of neighbouring farmers. The two-minute video shows Manorama Khedkar, accompanied by her security guards, engaged in a heated argument with the neighbours. She can be seen yelling at a man with a pistol in her hand. She walks up to him and waves the gun in his face before concealing it in her hand.

    VIDEO| मनोरमा खेडकर यांचा आणखी एक व्हिडीओ व्हायरल #IASPoojaKhedkar #ManoramaKhedkar pic.twitter.com/QPjvBC37xl
    — ZEE २४ तास (@zee24taasnews) July 16, 2024

    Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer, is accused of posing as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidature. She also claimed that she was visually and mentally disabled, but refused to take tests to corroborate her claims. She came under the spotlight after reports about her alleged demands for a separate office and official car and unauthorised use of a beacon on her private car during her posting in Pune emerged. She was subsequently transferred to Washim from Pune.

    However, the government on Tuesday put on hold the district training programme of the controversial IAS officer as she was summoned back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Uttarakhand’s Mussoorie for “necessary action”. A letter by Maharashtra additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre said the academy had decided to put her district training programme on hold, and immediately recalled her.